


MIDAS

by Randomworddudette



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Amnesia, Destiny, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm kind of making this up as I go along, Liberties taken with Light usage, Other, Slow Burn, maybe angst?, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24297709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomworddudette/pseuds/Randomworddudette
Summary: For almost two years, Guardians and Fallen alike - anything that isn't nailed down or robotic, has been disappearing on Mercury, and no-one knows where the victims have been disappearing to. Eventually, the numbers reach over 1,400, and the planet is quarantined. Two years later, and what Cayde-6 thinks is a normal day headed to relax on Nessus turns into a mystery when he finds two dead ghosts, and a woman who can control the Vex around her.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. Dead comms and Dead Ghosts

Nessus.

Now

Cayde-6.

It’d been a while since he’d been back to Nessus, after the war, but he’d always meant to. Besides being swarmed with Vex and Fallen, the planet was gorgeous, with pinkish-red leaves blanketing the ground, and forming a canopy up above. The trees were huge, taller than anything he remembered from earth, with a turquoise mist wafting around his legs that provided a beautiful contrast. The gold of the rocks where the vex had begun terraforming highlighted the area, and when the sun up above hit it, everywhere gained a golden tint.

In short, he loved it here. Even with the local enemies, they never posed him much of a threat unless he stumbled into a big group, but even then he came out pretty unscathed. He loved to investigate, doing random quests Failsafe asked him to do, usually finding a convey and letting his ghost hack it, or even just bringing some food, sitting on the edge of a golden cliff and watching the white waterfalls. Sometimes he brought a book Ikora had leant him, and swung his legs while reading.

This time was different though. After Mercury had been quarantined, and every civilian and guardian pulled from the planet, guardians had been going to Nessus in storm, taking down vex left and right, so the paradise planet was less calm than before. The sounds of wind and rushing rivers were replaced by gunfire and robot screeches. Not a good atmosphere to read a book in.

And him? He wasn’t supposed to leave the tower, being the Hunter Vanguard, but he needed a break from all the paperwork. Ace weighed heavy at his side, and he figured he’d be pretty safe with the sheer amount of guardians that went to the place regularly, so Zavala couldn’t complain. Just don’t mess with the teleporters. He learnt that the first time he came here.

He broke the atmosphere quickly, when his comms beeped. Failsafe was calling him. He pressed the button to answer, and spoke, “Failsafe, hey. What’s up?”

It was the… more robotic Failsafe, not her slightly intimidating glitch. “Cayde unit. It is wonderful that I detected you entering orbit, it has been a while since you last came to Nessus. I have detected something rather anomalous in the Tangle quadrant of Nessus. I suggest you go take a look.”

“Shall do. Send me the coordinates?” His ghost beeped in his ear and he thanked Failsafe, then shut down comms. His ghost, Sundance, appeared next to him.

“The anomalous readings are in the Tangle, alright, but they’re small and faint. No vex or fallen tech, not red legion, either.”

He frowned. “Then whatever it is, we get in, kill it or scan it, and Zavala never has to know. _Easy_.”

“You realise he probably knows already, _right_?”

“Let’s, uh, _not_ think about that. The thought of Mr. Angry Titan kinda scares me.”

They landed at Artifact’s Edge, the closest safe landing zone, and rode the Sparrow the rest of the way, pink trees and golden rocks zipping by. There were a couple of vex on the way there, but he dispatched them with relative ease. Once at the site of the readings, just at the base of one of the powerful trees, with branches as thick as his body was long, he pulled out Sundance and looked around.

The cliff overlooked the radiolarian falls, the liquid an eerie cream with sparks flying from it. In the Nessus summer, the falls were bathed with golden light, and in the autumn, red leaves flowed into it like a stream of human blood. He sighed. It’d been a while since Nessus had an autumn.

“Cayde,” his ghost called, and he turned. She was half hidden underneath a massive, thick root, but her light shone in the shadows. He hopped over some of the roots, before stopping. Sundance was hovering just over a dead ghost. One he recognised.

About a year ago, just before the Vanguard quarantined Mercury, they’d sent one last scouting team to see what had been killing guardians. Two hunters, a Titan, and a Warlock, he remembered they called themselves ‘Fireteam Horizon’. He remembered their names. Ara, Elias Storm, Jira Valuknov, and Cara-3. They’d - _he'd_ \- sent them to Mercury, on strict orders to retreat if the vex saw them, and they had gone missing, presumed dead. Just like 1,482 other Guardians.

The ghost’s name was Seaghost, a light green ghost with blue markings, which belonged to one of his hunters. Elias Storm, an excellent hunter, sniper and one of the sneakiest hunters Cayde had trained. He was also a known pickpocket and Cayde usually had to bail him out of trouble when he’d gotten onto the wrong side of Lord Shaxx or another guardian. Elias was under the command of his fireteam leader, Ara, another hunter who hadn’t chosen or found a last name for herself. She was cheerful but calm, for a hunter, and Cayde had often been surprised that she wasn’t a warlock, considering how she loved to learn. She was more of the hands-on learner, though. Always had been.

Cayde sat heavily on a root, Eclipse held in his hand as the other cradled his head. Sundance floated quietly, watching him. “Is there anything you can do for her?” He asked, and his ghost shook her body. “OK. Well, we’re taking Eclipse back with us. Maybe Ikora can do something for her.”

His comms beeped. Failsafe again. “You have found the anomalous object, I presume?” She said, always sounding overly cheery.

“Yeah. It’s one of my Hunter’s dead ghosts. They disappeared on…” It clicked. “They disappeared on _Mercury,_ two _years_ ago. So how the hell is Eclipse _here_?” He stood up, horrified, theories forming in his head. He needed to call someone, he needed to see if there were any more ghosts, he… he couldn’t think of a plan with all these thoughts. Ara, Elias, their team. How did they get here?

“Failsafe, are there any more readings like this one?”

“Scanning,” she grew quiet and Cayde tapped his foot, Seaghost still safe in his hand. Sundance floated near his left elbow, scanning the other ghost, who he now realised was surprisingly intact. No signs of damage on the shell, nor on the eye inside. He chuckled lowly, all these mysteries now brought up by something so small and fragile. “Yes, there is one more anomalous reading close to you. Coordinates are as follows.”

He was on his sparrow immediately, rocketing off the cliff, banging up his ride a bit with the landing, but nevertheless he was there in a few minutes. A smaller cave, half hidden by the golden rocks, covered by a few goblins, which were easily dispatched. He shot the harpy inside, not even giving it a chance to spin it’s purple tentacles out, never mind shooting at him. Instead it was a pile of brassy metal chunks on the floor. A few seconds and no more vex, and he pulled Sundance back out. “Failsafe, keep an eye out, call me if anythin' starts trying to kill us. Sundance, anythin'?”

“Just another ghost, boss. Jira Valuknov’s ghost. _Another_ member of Fireteam Horizon. How did they get here?” Sundance turned to Cayde once they found the ghost, a small, camouflage green ghost, just as dull as Elias’s. Just as absent of light. Just as perfectly intact.

“Hell if I know,” he breathed, picking up the ghost and storing it carefully away. “But I think we need to go to where this started.”

“You want to - but Mercury is _quarantined_! Not even _Osiris and his followers_ are allowed back!” His ghost twirled up until she was eye level with him, and he batted her gently away as he started heading out. She called after him. “We need to call the rest of the vanguard, or at least _notify_ someone that we’re heading to Mercury!”

He grinned at that. “Sundance, you know exactly what they’d say, Blue especially!” He crossed his arms and pushed up his chest. “‘ _Cayde, you know you’re not allowed to leave. You have to be responsible for your hunters that are left. You have to stay and do paperwork_ ’ - do you know just how demoralising that is? I’m a Hunter!” He huffed, and Sundance made a motion to roll her eye. “I love the dude, would and could kill for him, but he can act like a real stick up the ass sometimes. He doesn’t understand this  _ is _ my way of looking out for my hunters.” His grip on Ace tightened, and he narrowed his eyes, staring off into the distance. “By putting a bullet in the brain of who or  _ what _ has been killing them.”

Sundance was quiet, as he stood away from her, calming himself. Every day, he remembered all the times he’d had to send fireteams into Mercury, for one thing or another. Originally, the disappearances had been limited to just one ravine, until Guardians started disappearing in the Infinite Forest, even one team who went into the teleporter to talk with Brother Vance just up and disappeared off the face of the earth. He’d had to listen as their comms went quiet and their beacons disappeared. He’d watched every time as they scanned for their ghosts, only to find bullet casings and dead vex. He’d had to go through mourning every time a squad just lost comms and never regained them.

Cayde was closer with his guardians than Zavala and Ikora. Sure, he’d never got the whole ‘mentoring’ thing - that was where Ikora shone, she was an excellent teacher - but he was there when something went wrong. He was always there if someone in their team died and a guardian was broken. His hunters were a tight knit community, not quite familial - though some did get that close - but they all looked after each other all the same. He was the worst, as well, always checking up on a certain hunter if they ever lost contact for more than a month, unless he wasn’t allowed to. Usually a quick call, were they alive? Did they need anything? They rarely did, but he always offered help. 

So it always hurt when someone he knew died. Probably why the other two vanguards kept their stoicism around their guardians, why they kept them at an arms length. So they didn’t get attached, and weren’t affected when their guardians died. However Cayde was seriously affected when hunters started disappearing, everyone in the Tower noticed it. More calls to hunters on missions, checking in. More sneaking out, talking to guardians. More nights alone in the Hangar, sat on the railings, dangling his legs over the side, watching the city go by.

Thinking. Always thinking. He could be calm, in those moments alone. He could be sad. He could relax, and watch the world go on.

Take a breath. 

Stop thinking of them.

He held Ace in his hand, feeling the worn grooves and nicks of gunfire, the years of use that had affected the sidearm. Closing his eyes, he focussed on the gentle curves of the gun, the hard edges and loose curves. Calmer, he opened his eyes. “Sorry,” he muttered.

His ghost disappeared with a humph and spoke in his ear. “It’s OK. What do we do with the dead ghosts?”

He started walking to the entrance. “As much as I hate to say it, you’re right. Ikora might know something, or be able to do something with them. Can you store them?” They disappeared with a whumpf.

Suddenly, something angry, aggressive and metallic slammed into him, and he whacked against the wall. So much for keeping an eye out. “Failsafe, what the _hell_ -” He was met with static and realised. Somehow, his comms were down. He wasn’t that deep into Nessus, nor had he seen anything that would jam comms, so why…

His thoughts stopped as he rolled up, gun in hand, and was met with the barrel of a Fallen gun. But Fallen barely made it here, killed off or captured by the vex. He looked up.

A young woman, wearing a fallen cloak around her head held the gun to his head, calm and dangerous. From the glimpses of dark brown eyes and pale skin, he could tell she was human. She was shorter than him, but the hostility in her eyes showed her to equal him. She wore a mix of what looked like guardian hunter armour and Fallen purples that was mended to the cloak around her head. Thick gloves were on her hands, covered in dirt and what looked like blood, like pretty much everything she wore. She looked dirty, like she hadn’t had a bath in a while, but also like she belonged here. The grease in the locks of hair that peeked out from her head wrap, as well as the Fallen gun in her hand showed that she’d been out here a while. She was a survivor of  _ something _ . The gun in her hand and knife at her belt showed she was well armed. That, and the Hobgoblin just a few metres from him - the thing that had thrown him against the wall. He blinked at her.

  
“Shoot my hobgoblin, and I  _ will _ put a bullet in your head. Got it?”


	2. Midas and Orion

Nessus

Now

Cayde

“Shoot my Hobgoblin, and I’ll put a bullet in your head.  _ Got it _ ?”

She spoke with confidence, the gun never wavering, and Cayde considered the effort of being shot, if he could take the damage, just to kill one hobgoblin that strangely wasn’t attacking either of them. Just staring at him with something reminiscent of a glare. He put his gun back, and the fallen gun dropped, but not holstering. He turned his head just a fraction to look at the woman, frowning. “Hold up.  _ Your _ hobgoblin?”

She nodded, and made a motion with her free hand. The hobgoblin moved away from him, a little in front of the woman, never stopping its stare. “Yeah, Orion’s mine. He won’t hurt you unless I want him to.”

Cayde nodded. Perfectly reasonable for a human to be able to control a vex. “OK. Who the hell are you, and why are  _ you _ ,” he pointed at her, “able to control  _ that _ ,” the finger moved to the vex, which didn’t react. “Since you’re all human-ey and not scary golden murderbot.” He finished with a little wave of his hands in her general direction. She cocked her head with an inquisitive stare.

“Call me Midas. As for how I can control Orion, I can't, not really. It’s more like I can communicate with him. He knows what I want, and I know what he wants. It’s like a mutual relationship.”

He shook his head. “Vex don’t  _ want _ , kid,” she went to protest at this, but he talked over her, “They’re scary robots that serve a bigger, scarier robot, and take over planets for science.” The hobgoblin shifted, and his hand twitched to the gun as his eyes darted to the vex. It didn’t flinch, though it wandered calmly to the entrance of the cave. He left the gun, and noticed Midas’s eyes on his hand. The hobgoblin made a clicking noise, with a few whirs

“He says that you don’t understand us, and you’re scared.”

Cayde glared at the hobgoblin, and it stared back with a blank look. “He says wh- I am  _ not  _ scared. I do not get  _ scared _ of  _ vex. _ I am on  _ edge _ because one of the planets in our system had to be quarantined because things just like your friend there.” He huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. The hobgoblin wandered away, before turning back and clicking something again. Was that Morse Code?

“I mean, same thing, really, but okay.” Midas turned to the hobgoblin, before cursing. “Listen, I don’t know you, and Orion doesn’t like you, so I’m taking a risk, but it’s gonna get dark soon, and there’ll be Cabal and vex that  _ will _ actually shoot at you coming this way, which means they’ll find us. They see better than  _ me _ , at least I don’t know how your vision works in the dark, so  _ I’d  _ like to be out of their way. You can come with me or fight hordes of  _ scary robots”  _ Here she added quotation marks with her fingers, “And red flamethrower guys, I don’t care, but at least you’d be safer with me.” She started heading out, following the hobgoblin that had jogged out the cave entrance. He thought for a second, rationalising with himself. This woman had appeared just when he’d found the dead ghosts, with a vex she could control and wearing guardian and fallen armour. She’d shown signs of surviving here for a while, but no one had ever seen her, nor had Failsafe either never detected her, or mentioned her. This woman was a walking mystery, one he intended to explore. Plus, she didn’t seem to have a ghost, so - not counting the angry hobgoblin - he’d be able to take her down with relative ease should she try and do anything.

He walked out of the cave into the golden light of the setting sun, and nearly stumbled back in. So much for just the Hobgoblin. Two huge golden minotaurs stared him down with something bordering curiosity, as well as a small squad of goblins heading the way of the Midas woman. She turned back to look at him, then to the minotaurs. “They’re just like Orion, they won’t hurt you. I bring them with me in case we stumble into hostile vex.” He looked at her, suddenly wondering who she was.

This woman strode with purpose through the squad of vex, motioning for them to follow. The minotaurs stared at him a moment longer, before trudging off, one eyeing him as it moved. She started hurrying further into the forest, off the maps, and he followed, against all his better judgement. After a few minutes of not being shot, he relaxed just slightly. Sundance beeped to come out, but he didn’t allow her, muttering to stay hidden. He  _ was _ slowly starting to accept that these vex wouldn’t kill him, but he didn’t risk it, all the same.

Midas slowed to Cayde’s pace, leaving Orion to lead the way, staring at him for a moment before speaking. “Y’know, I’ve not seen any people in ages, but Orion taught me some stuff about the worlds. You’re an Exo, right?”

He nodded. “Best one you’ll ever find.”

“So you’re a human consciousness in a robot body?”

Another nod, this one more terse than the last.

“Huh. Cool.”

There was a moment of silence where Cayde could practically feel the woman watching him. It unnerved him, to have someone analyse him in such detail, but he couldn’t blame her, if she’d spent all the time she remembered alone with vex. A new species was probably fascinating.

“So, kid, how long have you spent here?” He tried to start a topic, and she huffed at the name, looking away as she thought.

“A year and a half, I think. Maybe two. By Nessus time. I don’t know what that is for anywhere else. I’ve been living in the wilderness with Orion and the others for as long as I can remember, but they know how to survive for some reason, so I’ve had food and water. Did you know that tree sap is basically the same as water here?”

He raised the equivalent of an eyebrow. “Huh, water for sap and radiolarian fluid for water.” Ikora would be fascinated by what this girl knew, not to mention her connections with these vex. A Minotaur behind them stopped for a second to inspect something in the underbrush, and for some reason, he was reminded of a book he’d found laying around in one of the destroyed homes in the EDZ, one he’d stocked it away in his area in the last city, with the rest of the remnants of a time long ago that he hoarded. He vaguely remembered it being called ‘The Iron Giant’. The vex handled the area with such intrigue and care, just like the robot in the book, that the resemblance was uncanny.

Midas talked a  _ lot _ , he soon found out. About Nessus, about the vex, about the Red Legion, about anything she could. He got the feeling she was often this talkative, but he was just here to hear it. She’d quickly relaxed around him, though he didn’t blame her. The first person that wasn’t a vex, or trying to shoot her, she was bound to open up quickly. It made her endearing, and he found himself interested in her talking, and even interacting with her, answering and asking questions. She was interested in everything, why he was in Nessus, why he was in the cave. He neglected to mention about the dead ghosts, still hidden safely in storage with Sundance, but had found it odd Midas had appeared just when he’d found Jira’s ghost. He asked her why she was there, and she shifted.

“Orion said he found something weird, and wanted me to look. I’ve been wanting to find anything that might remind me of who I was before all of this. I mean, I  _ couldn’t _ have grown up in Nessus, humans come from Earth. He said there might be something that could stir a memory, but we didn’t find anything. Just you.” She frowned, before looking at him with something different in her eyes. He could practically read her thoughts. He heard her mutter, “Maybe you’re what he wanted me to find.”

Cayde looked ahead, at the red foliage and beige rocks ahead. Could she be connected to the ghosts? He eyed the hobgoblin, forging the way ahead. It stared straight forwards, tail flicking with each step, and he noticed the goblins near it shrunk away at its glare. Even the Minotaurs made sure not to step too close to Orion. It was clearly the leader, below Midas. Cayde stayed quiet, but nodded to show he’d listened.

They walked for an hour more, the chill of the Nessus night starting to creep up into his metaphorical bones, making small talk before the Minotaurs could no longer follow, and Midas stopped, looking up at them. “You know the way, meet us in ten. If anything happens, call Orion and I’ll send a squad, cool?” They made no noise, but something in their body language changed, before they stood up straight, and headed to their left with long strides now they no longer had to head at Midas and Cayde’s pace. He watched them go, powerful pieces of machinery, all golden metal and red eyes scanning anything that moved.

Midas seemed to mistake his intrigue for empathy, and nudged him. “They’ll be fine, c’mon, we’re nearly there.”

They were indeed. Ten more minutes walking, and the bright red trees parted for them, and if he’d thought Midas’s squad was large before, he was yet to see anything.

The clearing wasn’t huge, maybe a hundred metres in diameter, but where the woods ended briefly, a tall overhang of rock and golden vex terraformation curved overhead, leaving them a decent shade. Thick branches of trees, not unlike those in the Tangle, curves overhead, with what looked like a small campsite in the base of one of the trees. The red canopy - now an odd brown in the night - was just tall enough to cover the vex, and Cayde was only now just realising how all those times alone, the forests could have been concealing any number of enemies.

Besides that, he was mostly impressed at the number of vex Midas had at the base camp.

About thirty goblins, not counting the squad surrounding them, were patrolling the area, sat on hunched knees, or using complex tools to weave the branches and twigs of trees together, forming a thick wall. He started to gather that this clearing wasn’t entirely natural. Another hobgoblin sat on a rock, watching them with a beady eye, playing with a twig in its tail. None of them had guns, besides a few goblins that stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes pointed outwards. A few metres away, a huge Hydra rested on a rocky outcrop, either asleep or powered down, due to the lack of glow in its eye. A few harpies were nestled in its shadow. The vex, all that strange gold colour, were the calmest he’d ever seen, and he realised he could hypothetically go back to the Tower with bragging rights about being so close to a vex without having to destroy it. The cryptarchs would hate him.

A great crash came from their right, and the two minotaurs came through an opening just wide enough for them. Midas nodded, and the goblins cleared from around them, as she walked up to the minotaurs. “Anything?”

Watching her converse with the vex was an odd experience, seeing as they didn’t actually speak back to her. Occasionally, he heard the whirring of gears or something that sounded vaguely like morse code, but nothing decipherable. He just decided that whatever allowed her to control the vex, also allowed her to talk to them. She was nodding as the minotaurs stared at her, before muttering, “Odd, they rarely come so close. Get the goblins to scout that area a bit more closely, but don’t engage. We don’t want a fight with someone we can’t beat.”

He sidled up to her, anxious to stay close to the only person keeping him from being swarmed by vex at the moment. “Who  _ can’t _ you beat? I mean, a small army of vex and a good shot, surely you’re pretty well off?”

She turned to him, her eyes meeting his, with something behind them. A worry. “Nope. Red Legion platoons have been getting closer recently, and while we have a lot of vex here, we can’t get into a fight, or we’ll be wiped out.” She jerked a finger to the massive Hydra by the rock face. “The reason Medusa’s like that? She got into a fight with a Cabal squad - took them all out - but she suffered heavy damages. I’ve been having some of the other minotaurs salvage anything they can find, but we don’t get much besides the other vex and the cabal. We have to stick to shadows, and try to remain undetected, or either enemy will swarm us.”

He nodded. So these _weren’t_ like normal vex then - besides the fact that normal vex would have slaughtered this kid by now. They were in danger from everything. He looked around him, and could almost see them as refugees, different from their species. It was then he realised. They were  _ gold _ .

It was a practically minuscule difference, but he strode up to the closest vex, a goblin that stared at him with something bordering confusion.  _ Gold _ . This woman was called Midas, and if he remembered correctly, King Midas was a  _ really _ old Greek myth from centuries before the Golden Age. It told the story of a man who was given the ability to turn anything he touched to pure gold. The myth never mentioned any killer robots or dead Ghosts, but the similarity was too uncanny. He turned to her, as she watched him. He noticed she’d begin to fidget, her eyes filled with fear.

“What  _ are _ you?” He asked.

At this, she fidgeted, and Cayde noticed her hands start to shake. Something was up. With these vex that didn’t kill, with this girl that had managed to stay hidden for two  _ years _ , and could somehow communicate with vex. With this woman named after a greek myth, surrounded by golden murderous robots. He almost started to feel bad, but she cut him off by speaking, still looking at her hands.

  
“ _ I don’t know _ .” Her voice quivered, and she pulled off her gloves, showing pale hands, flecked with blue veins that made her seem paler. They were remarkably clean, seeing the state of the rest of her, but something minuscule shone. She brushed it off, and he saw tiny… sparkles? Orion had moved closer, glaring at Cayde with its red eye, and he realised that the rest of the clearing had grown still. The vex still moved, but made no noise, listening to them. The air was filled with tension. Midas moved to sit down. “All I remember is waking up two years ago, not far from where we found you, covered in vex blood, wearing old, broken armour, with Orion standing over me. I...I don’t remember anything before that moment. No parents, no family, nothing from where I might’ve come from or who I might’ve been, just Orion, and me.” She started to tell him the story of the first day she remembered, and he sat down on the ground, and listened.


	3. Two Years Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas's beginnings are revealed.

_Nessus_

_Two Years Ago_

_Midas_

The first thing she saw when she woke, was the neon turquoise of the sky.

Her arms hurt, as did pretty much the rest of her body, like she’d been hit with a truck, but not killed. Her head was the worst, pounding like a drum, and she clutched it, rising to a sitting position as she cried out. The light from the sun was blinding, and she shut her eyes against the light. Something just at her temples hurt and she hissed, curling into herself. Slowly, the pain ebbed away, until it was nothing more than a deep ache, and she managed to open her eyes.

She was sitting on a plateau of beige rock, high above the ground. Around her were great trees, with oddly shiny roots and red leaves, circling the plateau before disappearing into a thick, red-leaved forest. A decently worn path wormed its way into the trees before vanishing into the shrubbery. She looked back to the edge. Just a few metres away, a little river trickled past her, before dropping sharply off the cliff, and she stood up on shaky legs to see where it went.

The cliff wasn’t a huge drop, but she definitely wouldn’t be able to survive jumping down it. Down there, in the forests below, she could see huge beige ruins of buildings, with smatterings of what looked like golden cubes. Near them, great, tall cliffs hung like watchful mountains, and below them, more of those red-leafed trees. Some were even bigger, with branches thicker than she was tall, and she felt a need to climb them. The thing that caught her eye, however, was the huge, white sea. Great waterfalls of white water, rivers of the same thing, all flowed into the sea.

She sat back, racking her brain. How did she get here? It was now she realised that she didn’t remember anything. No name, no knowledge of who she was. Her mind was blank, and as she tried to remember, the pain in her head returned.

She hissed, her hand shooting to her head as her chest grew tight. She had no knowledge of who she was. She had no knowledge of where she was. She had no knowledge of why she was here. Nothing. Her brain hurt and she whimpered, curled up. The fear in her chest grew, and she struggled to breathe. It took a long time, but eventually she managed to pull her thoughts together, collect herself, and stand up. She felt grimy, and looked down at herself.

What she wore was weird. A purple bodysuit under destroyed black armour, that went into baggy trousers and boots. There was a belt around her waist, and gloves on her hands. On her left arm, she wore a yellow shoulder pad, something armoured and hard. Rubbing her hands through her hair, she felt it was short and practical, longer at the top and short at the bottom.

Finally, she had some sort of idea of what she looked like, but it still didn’t give her any answers. A soldier, perhaps? Maybe an explorer? Someone who had to run around? She wore trousers and practical clothes, with armour and short hair.

She decided to put it behind herself. So she didn’t know who she was. Maybe she could find something nearby to help her remember. She couldn’t have just appeared here out of nowhere; she must have travelled here. She stood up, and started following the path.

It was slow going, making her way through the forests, but eventually she was off the cliffs, and down below near the white sea. Slowly, she made her way to just below the cliffs, where there was a small chest, glowing dimly. Sifting through it, she found a lot of blue cubes, and a couple plants and food rations. She took the food, but left everything else. The way she figured it, the chests were left by someone, and the plants looked fresh, so they’d been left recently. As much as she would love some information about where she was, something in her gut said she couldn’t trust anything around her right now.

She carried on walking, and it wasn’t long before she heard metallic roars. The hairs on her neck stood up. Something between a roar and a scream shook the world, and she dropped to the ground, her hands over her ears. “Oh god, oh god, oh god.” She muttered, as the world shook. Above her, rocks crumbled and peppered her with dust and pebbles, and she whimpered. Distantly, in the same direction of the roar, gunfire crackled through the sound, and the roar cut short with the sound of an explosion.

Quickly, she stood up, looking around. The roars had come from her left, as well as the gunfire, so she headed up the hill to her right. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck rose even higher and she threw herself to the side. A deep growling yell came from behind her, and amidst the confusion and fear, her body moved swiftly, rolling herself up like she was used to it. 

Maybe she _had_ been a soldier.

The creature that had shot at her was tall, a purple clad humanoid beast, with glowing bue eyes and a rifle held in two of its four arms. It hissed at her with sharp teeth, and she frowned, for some reason insulted. Something in the pit of her stomach was tense, and she felt ready. She dipped her hand into the pockets of her belt, and drew out a knife.

Why in God’s name would she have a knife?

Though, thinking about it, it was perfectly reasonable for a soldier to have a knife.

The creature hissed again, and she heard noise to her right further up the hill. More of them? 

All her instincts wanted her to hiss back, to growl like an animal and slaughter the beast, but instead she fought them. She had to remain calm. She’d obviously had training, and could just about remember some of it, burned into the memories of her muscles like a scar to skin. Permanent.

The creature shot at her and she rolled towards it, the whizz of its bullets hurtling over her head sending shivers through her spine. She twisted a leg out, but the creature leapt back, somersaulting and landing further back before firing at her again. She scrambled up before running, suddenly realising she had literally brought a knife to a gunfight. She slid into cover, bullets peppering the ground by her head, and focussed. In the background, the creature made a laughing noise deep in its throat.

She couldn’t do anything with a knife, she realised, sifting through what she could feel from her fighting ability. There was something there, but it was close quarters, getting into the enemy’s personal space. Gunfire within earshot reminded her that she was running out of time. Her hand sifted through the dust on the ground. She wasn’t going to be winning this easily, but if she didn’t fight fair…

The creature screeched as she leapt out of cover, rolling out of the way before the bullets tore into her, and scrambling up. She kept doing this until she was close enough, then leapt up, throwing a big handful of dust and stone into the creature's face. It yelped, a hand reaching up, she she whipped out her knife. She slipped down, swiping its legs out from underneath it so it slammed to the ground. Stabbing it in the chest, she grabbed its arm, twisting until it dropped the gun. Quickly, her finger was on the trigger, and the barrel was pointed at its face. Screeches in the distance grew louder. It froze. So did she.

Something in her was screaming at her to kill it, something deep and ingrained in her, coming from the same place as her fighting knowledge. She wrestled with it for a few seconds, her morality struggling between killing something and defending herself, when the creature made her decision for her.

It yanked the knife out of its chest, hissing angrily, before raising its arm to swing.

BLAM!

She nearly dropped the gun as the purple blood leaked from its ruined chest. Looking at it now, when it wasn’t trying to kill her, it was almost spider like. Four arms, two either side, with a small, greyish head. Its mouth was long and wide, with hundreds of little needle teeth. She took a knee, pulling its gun holster from its back, and with a second thought pulled its cloak from around its head. She wrapped it around her, putting the gun on her back, and stood, staring at it.

Suddenly, something popped into her mind. Fallen. The creature was called Fallen.

She turned away from the Fallen, gun on her back, stolen cloak around her shoulders and over her head, and started walking further up the hill, where the gunfire had ceased.

She knew she was in the right place, when she saw the dead Fallen bodies. A quick search and she found more guns, but left them. There was nothing she could do with them. She left the creature's armour, as well, as they were shattered and broken by something heavy. There were a few food packs between the Fallen, and she took them, stuffing them in her pockets.

It was then that the hairs on the back of her neck raised again.

She rolled, twisting, but there were no bullets to dodge. Instead, a metallic beast, with two huge horns and a whipping tail, still covered in purple blood, with peeks of golden metal, stared at her. Its eye was red, and it stood calmly, presenting no danger. Still, she aimed her gun at it, but it didn't even flinch.

“ _Who are you_?” She growled, her voice croaky from either overuse or underuse. The creature didn’t answer, instead clicked and whirred. Something was familiar. “Did you kill these Fallen?” A surprised click, its body jerking up, its tail flicking. That clicking was really familiar.

She asked one more question. “Are you a danger to me, or should I shoot you now?” Whir, click, stop. Whir, whir, whir. Morse code. The creature had just said _no_.

“You can talk?” whir, click, whir, whir, stop. Click, stop. Click, click, click, stop. _Yes_. 

“Okay, so you’re a robot that can talk with Morse code.”

“ _Yes_.”

She let out a breath. “Okay, I’m gonna ask you a couple questions, cause I have no idea what’s happening here. That okay?”

“ _Yes_.”

“Cool.”

She stood straight, before looking around them. The bodies were a sign they’d been here, and as much as she wanted answers, she also had to stay safe. “Before that, we’re leaving this spot. Uhh..” She pointed to a patch of forest nearby. “There. Head there, I’ll be behind you. Attack me and I’ll shoot you, okay?”

“ _Understood_.”

Once there, she sat down, gun still trained on the mechanical beast. It’d done the same, however, and sat on its haunches. She was reminded of something like a cat, of a goat.

“So, who are you? _What_ , are you?”

“ _I am not a who. I am Vex Hobgoblin 6-480-999_.”

Okay, so its species is Vex. That, and the word Hobgoblin, sparked something in her foggy memory. It wasn’t lying. What next.

“Where am I?”

“ _You are on Centaur Minor Planet, 7066, Nessus. Half-conquered by Vex Hive Mind. Half-conquered by Cabal. Eliksni rats scavenge through the rest_.”

She sighed. This guy didn’t have much to say, but maybe she just wasn’t asking the right questions. She thought again, about how she’d woken up here, about its robotic mind. If it was or had been part of a hive mind, then surely it would have a lot of knowledge.

“Do you know what I am, who I am?”

“ _Yes_.”

“What am I?”

“ _You are a female Human, blood type A. Genetic origin is from the EDZ, also known as Earth. Possible recent location is the Last City, under the shadow of the Traveller_.”

She frowned, noticing a few things. It knew her blood type, when even she didn’t know that. Earth was a dead zone, which struck something in her brain, and the final word.

“What is the Traveller?”

“ _The Traveller is a mysterious orb hanging low over The Last City on Earth. It is powerful, having fended off the Darkness, but also currently dormant_.”

There was another whirr, like it was going to say something, but it stopped. She frowned, before sighing.

“Who am I?”

“ _You are a successful result of Vex Scientific Project 011; MIDAS, a human born of Vex technology. You are powerful, with vex technology and a Human body. The Vex Hive Mind want to use you as a hidden knife, sent to hide in the Last City, before commanding an attack to destroy them_.”

She blinked at that. A spy? A project? She decided to think about it later.

“ _They_ want? _You_ don’t?”

A pause, then it began to speak.

“ _No. I_ did _, when I was part of the Hive Mind. I am something different, shunned from the Vex, as I am not able to access the Hive Mind. I am now a mistake, a broken chain in the eyes of the Vex gods._ ”

She nodded, listening. So they were _both_ broken, in a sense. She with no memories, the vex with no hive mind. She thought for a second. Two would make a better team than one, and it had said it didn’t want to kill her. If it was true that it wasn’t even connected to the mysterious Hive Mind, then it surely didn’t pose a danger. She looked at it, and put her gun down.

“You got a name?”

“No.”

Something popped into her head. A constellation she’d loved in the past. 

“You like the name Orion?”

It nodded awkwardly, and she stood up, holstering her gun and holding her hand out.

“So, Orion. Do you want to work as a team? I don’t know why I’m here but I can fight, and you seem to know the place, so we’d be beneficial.”

It whirred for a second, thinking. It stood, but didn’t take her hand, instead staring at it. “ _Yes_ ”


	4. Leaving It All Behind

_Nessus_

_Now_

_Cayde_

It was morning when he woke, cold and tired from the night. He’d been awake for a while after Midas had fallen asleep a few metres away from him, curled into her cloak. He’d stayed up thinking about her story, about his situation, about what he could do next, and even though Exo’s didn’t necessarily need sleep, he’d found the exhaustion hit him quick and hard, and he’d basically passed out.

They’d camped up in one of the boughs of the huge trees, high above the other Vex. There was a small camp, with a broken chest filled with food, and the charcoal remains of a small fire. On the ground, near the fire, there were a few Fallen cloaks formed into a bed. She’d made one for him, but he’d moved from it pretty quickly after she fell asleep, preferring to hang his legs over the side of the bough, where he could think.

He could come to a conclusion from her story, assuming she was telling the truth. She used to be a Guardian. It would tie in with why she ambushed him near the fallen ghosts, and why the Vex had said she would remember something from them. Maybe she was one of the hundreds that went missing on Mercury, just like Fireteam Horizon, but he didn’t recognise her voice. Maybe a Warlock? But that didn’t explain why she styled herself like a Hunter. The cloak was always a big staple, after all.

Last night, he’d pulled out Sundance, and they’d talked. She’d obviously been listening to his and Midas’s conversations, and had her own input, but they eventually agreed. Midas sounded like a Guardian. A _way too_ trusting, kind, and powerful Guardian, but when you lose all your memories, then of course you’re going to trust someone new. He was just glad that he’d found her and not some Awoken _creep_ or Vex _abomination_ that tried to use her.

So _why_ didn’t he _recognise_ her?

Something Sundance had brought up bothered him. ‘Vex Scientific Project; MIDAS’. Clearly that was where her name was from, but it didn’t make sense. No Guardian had ever reported anything about Project Midas before. He needed to talk to Ikora and maybe Zavala. Maybe even take Midas to the Tower, get her to explain her story.

He shook his head at himself. That’d never work. Not even the Fallen could get into the Tower, so to bring an army of Vex into the Tower, with a girl that only says she can control them wouldn’t be allowed. They’d all be shot on the spot, and he’d get both the wrath of Zavala and Ikora, which was a terrifying prospect in itself. But if he could convince her to come peacefully, then they’d both be saved bloodshed and trouble.

It wasn’t long after that Midas stirred, grumbling about aching and cursing when some bond cracked into place. She hadn’t taken off the mask around her mouth and nose, but her hood was down, so he could see the two plaits her hair was tightly woven into. Her hair was black, greasy, with specks of leaves and twigs stuck in them after years of sleeping rough, and cut short about her shoulder blades. Her eyes were dull with sleep, but were just as dark as yesterday, and yet again, something sparked in his foggy memory. Had he known this kid?

One thing he learnt about Midas, was that she wasn’t a morning person. While she did wake up quickly, she was silent, and barely talked until a near half hour afterwards, when she sidled up to him as he watched the Hydra. Medusa, she’d called it.

“She sleeps a lot,” Was the first thing Midas said. “Orion told me it’s something to do with the Cabal attack. The harpies like her too much, so they stay around her to protect her. They should be waking up soon.”

He nodded, taking it in. “What happened to it - her?”

She sighed, looking around them. Hobgoblins and Goblins worked at the trees, weaving branches and twigs together, just like yesterday. The two huge minotaurs were seated in the shadows of the huge trees.

“We… we didn’t always live here. We used to be halfway across the planet, where the Fallen barely ever go. There’s no massive ruins or mechanics, you see. There were more of us, and the settlement was bigger. We… _I_ made the mistake of getting too confident, after we’d just assimilated a load of new Vex, and I don’t know what _happened_ , whether the Vex and Cabal worked together as some form of revenge, or damage control, but the Cabal came down in huge squads and nearly _wiped us out_.” 

She crossed her arms, her breathing rattling as she stared straight ahead at Medusa. Suddenly, he thought that the Fallen cloak looked way too big for her. Her eyes were too big, too dark. She was too young, too small for whatever this had been. There was too much emphasis on her words. “I _thought_ we could fight them, and we _could have_ , but the recently assimilated Vex blew up. They’d positioned themselves next to our defences and just… took them out.”

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it. Then, sighed, wrapping her cloak further around her shoulders. Her voice trembled. “We used to be a lot bigger.”

He knew she was technically a stranger, even if she _had_ been one of his. He knew that - in literally anyone else’s minds - he would be in extremely dangerous territory, with someone who could literally command huge Vex to slaughter him and rip him mechanical limb from mechanical limb. The only reason he had to trust her was that she _hadn’t_. He’d watched the Vex for hours last night, and none of them so much as acknowledged his presence.

But, he thought, she _might_ have been his. One of _his_ _Hunters_ , and even if there was a slim possibility, it meant she was family. Family that didn’t know she was, but family all the same, and so he decided to do what he did with every Hunter that was having it rough. He put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her to his side. She looked up at him in surprise.

“Look, Kid. What I say can’t bring ‘em back, and nothing anyone can do will either, but - and I _can’t believe_ I’m saying this - It’s a good thing you got these Vex out. You’re a strong kid, you’ve survived out here for years, with creatures that most people would have shot on sight. But, you wouldn’t’ve been able to survive out here forever.” She frowned, before nodding. “So, in a way, the fact you’ve managed to amass a small army, as well as surviving on Nessus, and fighting off Cabal, Vex and Fallen… I’d say the small army helps.”

She looked at him, those dark eyes full of intrigue, and he winced internally. Not his best speech, Zavala was so much better at the pep talks, he was better when he knew the person, but was pleasantly surprised when she nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I guess you kinda make a point.”

There was a moment of silence, where the sun beat down on them, and the only sounds were mechanical whirrs and trees creaking.

She suddenly whirled, causing Cayde to pull his hand back and stare at her in confusion. “ _It’s day_!”

He nodded slowly, trying to decipher what she meant. “Finally woke up, have we?”

She shook her head, “ _No_ , I need to get you back to the Tangle! Is this technically kidnapping?”

Cayde frowned, cocking his head to the side, before laughing. “No? Why would - what - I mean, I don’t think I’m being held here against my will?”

“No! Definitely not!”

He grinned, the idea of teasing her popping up, “Then I’ve definitely been kidnapped,” he spoke sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes. “Help, I’ve been kidnapped! Or is it Exo-napped? They’ve looked after me, given me a place to sleep, and _not killed me_!”

“ _Ha-ha_ , dumbass. You didn’t _have_ to follow me.” He nodded as she sassed him. Good, she was feeling less upset.

“Eh, you held me at gunpoint and didn’t shoot me.”

Her eyebrows knitted, and she laughed nervously. “Yeah, well - wait, you followed me ‘cause I held you at _gunpoint_? That does sound like kidnapping.”

“More ‘cause of the not shooting me thing, but sure.”

“ _Weirdo_.”

“People have said worse.”

She nodded, obviously thoroughly confused, “Okay, uh, I’m gonna go get Orion, and then I’ll take you back. The woods get really thick in some places, you’ll get lost.”

She was just about to run off, when he remembered what he’d thought about last night. “Hold up a sec, Midas.”

She turned, eyebrows high, eyes bright. “Yeah?”

“You’re looking for answers about who you were, right?” Those bright eyes narrowed, and she fully turned to him. He’d gotten her attention. Across the clearing, he saw a hobgoblin whip its head to them. Orion. “Look, I was thinking over your story last night, about how you might be connected to a bunch of disappearances we’ve had recently, and where I come from, The Last City, and The Tower, it’s right under -”

“The Traveller,” She breathed. “The Last City was where Orion said I was from. On Earth, right?” He nodded.

“Kid, I can’t promise you can bring all these Vex. The Tower was built to keep their kind out, the Vex, the Cabal, everything, to keep us safe from their attacks, but I promise I _can_ vouch for you. You’ll be safe, and we can give you somewhere to live, so you don’t have to sleep in a tree. I have a ship that can take you there, and…”

“Yes.” She said, without him even asking the question, and he grumbled something about interrupting him. She ignored him. “Yes. Give me half an hour, and I can disperse the Vex to a safe location. I’m bringing Orion, though.”

He frowned, “I don’t-”

“ _I’m bringing him_. There’s no question.” Her voice was calm, with no room for answer, and he sighed. Either Zavala or Ikora was going to kill him for bringing not one, but two strays into the Tower, _let alone_ one of them being _Vex_.

Totally not like the last time anything not Awoken, Exo, or Human had been in the City, there was a war that spanned the entire Universe, and everyone had lost their Light, and thousands of people had been killed, injured, had their homes destroyed, or been traumatised for generations.

He rubbed his forehead, sighing. Zavala in particular was going to flay his exoplates from his wiring. Not telling what Ikora would do at this point. Maybe drop a Nova Bomb on him?

“ _Fine_. But If he makes one move at someone, he’s out, okay?” She nodded, and sprinted off to where Orion stood, full tilt towards them, staring in something between horror and pure, unbridled fury. At Cayde. Even his hands were clenched, red eyes seemingly redder than before. Cayde walked away, seating himself on one of the huge tree roots that reached out of the ground, watching as Midas got prepared.

It took her an hour to get ready. Most of that time was getting the golden Vex hidden and ready, taking them down a small path to a cave nearby, that reached deep into the belly of Nessus. The Hydra and two minotaurs took the longest, with Medusa floating slowly, with no shields to be seen, the edges scraping dully along branches, and on the ground. The minotaurs simply were too big, so they took caution to move entire branches clumps out of the way, to let each other pass through. When Midas was sure that the Vex would be safe, she headed back, giving them orders on how to survive without her. The huge minotaurs were to stay a little further up, to defend the rest of them, whilst the rest of them were to protect Medusa, and continue to look for repair supplies. If anything happened, they were under orders to immediately contact Orion, and he and Midas would come straight back.

After she was sure they were safe, Cayde helped her to either hide or pack her stuff. Her Fallen rifle, cloak, and some food packs came with her, as well as a small pouch he hadn’t seen before that she clipped to her belt. The rest of the food rations were hidden in a small clump of bushes nearby that she marked with a scratched symbol in the wood of a nearby tree, and he kicked over the remnants of the fire she’d set up last night.

Finally, all she had to do was convince Orion.

“Orion, _please_. You _know_ how much I need to find this. This guy is my _only_ lead at who I used to be!” They were arguing for a while, furiously quick clicks and whirrs coming from Orion, his shoulders high. His tail whipped, and the whirrs were deeper than normal, but Midas wasn’t intimidated. Cayde noticed she used her hands a lot. Eventually, though he couldn’t tell much from only being able to understand her side of the argument - he’d never been good at Morse Code, even with being in a mechanical body - eventually Midas seemed to win the argument, either that or Orion grew tired of fighting, and he followed her towards Cayde.

“We’re ready,” She spoke, her eyes shining. “Let’s go to the Tower.


	5. In Favour of Something New

Space

Now

Midas

Midas learnt very quickly that she hated ships.

Maybe it was the takeoff, the feeling of being pressed against her seat, the sickening juddering as they broke orbit, the momentary weightlessness afterwards before the fake gravity kicked in. Maybe it was the actual ship, being in a confined metal room with only vague decorations in the shape of boxes and crates, but being in the ship left her with a feeling of lead deep in her stomach, her bones feeling heavy and her heart feeling tight. At the moment of takeoff, when the rockets outside screeched to a start, grinding and screaming against Nessus’s gravity, she’d wanted to get off, to sprint into the forests she knew so well.

Orion didn’t seem to mind. He just shut off his body and wandered off into whatever thought space he’d concocted. She envied him, sometimes. Being able to completely disconnect from the world around you.

But, she reminded herself. This was for knowledge. Her only opportunity in two years had just popped up, in the shape of a witty, cloaked, Exo, and she couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t lose this opportunity to find who she used to be.

Instead, she pulled out a half-destroyed, muddy, notebook from her belt, jotting in on her list that she didn’t like flying/ships. She’d found it on the dead body of a skeleton wearing astronaut armour. Orion had estimated the bones to be centuries old, so she figured the dead person didn’t need the notebook anymore. She used it now as a memory of what she did or didn’t like, or what she remembered. Important things, in case she ever lost her memories again. She didn’t want to be in the dark about herself ever again.

The book had been filled with things she didn’t understand, something about a far off star system, a Failsafe AI, and someone called Jacobs. There were other drawings, too. Mechanical ones, ones of the Vex, but from a long time ago, before they evolved into how they looked now. Things about engines and machines that she didn’t understand, and neither did Orion. She’d considered showing Cayde the notebook, but considering what she’d filled it with, she didn’t trust him enough yet. All in due time.

She looked down the main belly of the ship, to the ladder up to the cockpit, where Cayde was driving the ship. Everything had happened so fast, she’d barely given herself enough time to think. Just yesterday she’d held a gun to his head, and now she was trusting him not to lead her into a trap.

Of course she’d heard glimpses of him talking last night. She was a terrible speaker, waking up at the slightest of noises, so she’d heard him talking to that tiny mechanical robot that floated around. Sundance, he’d called it, and it’d called him Cayde. They spoke about how Guardians - she still didn’t know what those were. Maybe some kind of machine? - had been going missing on Mercury. How something called a ‘Ghost’ had appeared on Nessus, and how it could be connected to Midas and her memories. 

She’d listened as she drifted in and out of sleep, and could now think it over. She could be connected to hundreds of people disappearing. Supposedly dying. Of course her mind went to the worst, had _she_ killed them? But Cayde seemed to think differently. He seemed to think that she was one of them. A Hunter, possibly. “ _One of mine_ ,” was something she specifically heard him say, and the guilt and remorse in his tone had been thick.

Speaking of, she snapped from her thoughts when she heard footsteps. Cayde was walking towards her. She saw Orion move his head a slight increment, but paid the Exo no attention. He was still angry with her for leaving Nessus.

“Good to see you haven’t touched any of my loot,” Cayde started, and she raised an eyebrow. So that’s what was in the boxes.

She laughed, “I haven’t been able to get up off this bench since we left Nessus. Turns out leaving a planet for the first time ever is terrifying.” She tried to stand up, but her knees buckled. Cayde grabbed her arm and moved her back to sit. “Well, the first time since I remember.”

“Woah there, Sealegs,” He set her down before seating himself on a nearby crate, “You get used to it eventually, though I suppose it can be a bit scary the first time.” He paused, thinking. “I don’t even _remember_ the first time I got on a ship.”

She grumbled. “ _Lucky_ ”

He chuckled, nudging her. “Y’know, you’re a good kid. Makes me surprised how you were on Nessus for so long. No communication, all by yourself, I would’ve gone crazy without anyone to talk to.”

“I’m not surprised,” She grinned. “You like talking.”

“I just have a good voice, Kid.”

“Can’t agree,” she quipped, and he gasped like she’d betrayed him. “Mine’s better.”

Suddenly, something hit her. She felt like she’d done this before. This was all too familiar, just sitting, joking with Cayde. With someone else. She grew silent, a growing pain behind her eyes making her wince. She hunched over, leaning her elbows on her knees, watching Orion as he sat there, still. Occasionally something - a wire, a plate of metal - would shift, but mostly he was still.

“Do you...do you think they’ll help me?” She asked, quietly. She didn’t look away from Orion, didn’t move. She didn’t want to see Cayde’s face, in case the answer was ‘ _no, definitely not, they’ll shoot you the minute we land!_ ’.

She heard him shift, and a hand was on her shoulder. She stiffened as he began speaking, but relaxed as he finished. “Yeah, probably. We’ve got a habit for picking up strays, if TG’s anything to go by. You’ll be fine.”

She nodded slowly, and he carried on. He squeezed her shoulder and she relaxed, looking further at the ground, at his feet. Anywhere but at him. “Plus, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, Kid. I said I’d help you find who you used to be, and I intend to.”

She sat up, staring him in the eyes., and he moved his hand. “Thankyou, for this, I mean,” She said, “You didn’t have to help me - I mean you still don’t, either - but thank you for doing it anyways. If there’s ever anything I can do to repay you, well, I’ll do it.”

He opened his mouth, a glint in his eyes, and she cut him off. “Within reason.” His face fell.

“Dammit, almost got free food. Fair enough.”

She chuckled, and they sat in comfortable silence for a bit longer, until she heard that metallic female voice she’d heard last night call out. “We’re here.”

The Tower was apparently where Cayde lived, where it acted as a home for the Military force and the Commanders. She’d been expecting, honestly, something more extravagant and terrifying, but instead there was something more like a concrete and metal town atop the huge wall. The wall was thick, so much that a Harpy could probably comfortably float on top of it, and it ran around a city, a concrete jungle of buildings taller than the cliffs back at Nessus. The Tower wasn’t foreboding, standing tall in the light. She could even see a few people wandering around on its surface, tiny black ant dots of people.

Behind the wall, there was that huge city. Back at Nessus, she’d been in huge forests with trees that were taller than the cliffs. This city was putting those forests to shame. Thousands of people must live there, all in one encircled, protected wall. Deep in the city, she could see a few green - not red! - trees, even a few parks, and _lakes of water_. Water that didn’t flow from broken trees, but from the ground itself. Huge bodies of water, rivers, lakes, puddles. There was so much of it!

They came closer to the Tower, and she saw huge turrets aimed outwards. So Cayde had been right about tight security. Some of the wall was broken, showing patches of metal bars and warped steel taller than the ship she sat in. 

The biggest thing that caught her eye, however, was the huge, broken, white orb in the sky. She gasps as she finally looks up and sees it.

It was nearly as big as the city, maybe bigger, maybe the size of a small moon, and floated a good few miles above the top of the tallest buildings. It was pure white, nearly glowing with either its own, or the sun's reflected light, although some sections were broken and grey, shards of it orbiting the orb. She couldn’t get over the size, and made a small noise of amazement. Orion whirred from behind her, back in the belly of the ship.

The Traveller.

So this was The Last City. This was where she was from. This was home. As the ship veered away, heading to an entrance where a few other ships were flying in and out of the wall, she stepped away from the window, wrapping her cloak around her. If it was her home, why didn’t it feel like it?

It felt like she was walking into danger, honestly.

Cayde called out for her to get ready, as they entered into the wall, shadows flowing over them. Midas breathed in, as Orion stood up. She breathed out, as Cayde walked into the room, and they landed. The door opens, and she steps out into the Hangar of the Tower.

Two steps down, Orion behind her, and chaos erupts.


	6. Guns at Her Head and Scary Purple Women

The Tower

Midas

Now

When Midas first met Cayde, she’d held a gun to his head. Sure, it hadn’t been for long, but she felt that the barrel she was staring down now was some kind of karma for that.

The world was in chaos around her, surprised yells coming from somewhere. Cayde was speaking quickly, Orion beeping and whirring and flicking his tail angrily, solar energy crackling around him, not helping the situation. A blonde woman was running up to them, yelling at Cayde, and all the while Midas stayed still, staring down the barrel of a shotgun, point blank aimed at her head.

She didn't even dare to speak.

Orion was right behind her, and she could feel him staring murderous daggers into the person holding the gun, a young male exo wearing what looked like a mechanics uniform. He was frowning, a glare focussed straight on Midas, and she stared back.

“Move,” He hissed, no authority in his voice, like he was asking her instead of ordering. She didn’t. “Move. _Please_. I have to shoot the Vex.”

She didn’t move.

“Fine.” He cocked the gun, and Orion hissed, a dangerous sound that indicated he was ready to kill this exo. He took a step forward, and Midas turned her head in an increment to Orion.

“ _Stop_.” She growled, recognising that anything Orion did would fuck their chances even more.

The exo’s eyes widened, as she watched him. Speaking slowly, she tried to calm the situation. She was dimly aware of Cayde talking to the blonde woman off to her side somewhere.

“ _Listen_ .” She started, keeping her hands where the exo could see them. “We are _not_ here to hurt anyone. The Vex is with me, and I’m with Cayde. I’m assuming you know him?”

The exo nodded. “Hunter Vanguard, yeah. Still doesn’t explain the murder robot you’ve got behind you that you just ordered around.”

She sighed, and looked him over quickly. Blue overalls, messy and unironed, but cleaner than her. Several scratches in his black and gold faceplates, red optics. There was a nametag. Ollie. “Look, Ollie - can I call you Ollie? - Look, Ollie, the Murder Robot is Orion. I’m Midas. He listens to me. He won’t _touch_ anyone unless they’re trying to attack me,” Orion hissed in agreement. She nodded to the shotgun. “ _That_ gun is the only reason he’s even _looking_ at you right now.”

Orion was hissing and spitting foul things from behind her, aimed at the exo. She didn’t translate, but the sheer venom from his words was palpable, and Ollie made an audible gulping noise. She muttered back to Orion to calm down, and he took a step back and quietened, but the glare didn’t go away. She smiled at the exo, before realising he couldn’t see. She cursed herself for still wearing her mask and hood. It made her look so much more creepy than she actually was. Her voice was gentle as she spoke.

“Look, Ollie, I promise that if you drop that gun, nothing is going to happen, OK?” The gun wavered. “I won’t hurt you, Orion won’t either. I’m…” She wondered if she should bare her secrets so easily, but decided it would be the best way to get that gun out of her face. She dropped her voice so only the exo could hear her, and looked directly into his eyes, being as sincere as possible. “I’m here because I think I used to live here. I woke up on Nessus two years ago with no memory, and the ability to control Vex. So _please_ , I need you to drop the gun and let me in. I just want to know who I was.”

He stared at her for a good few seconds before speaking again. “You won’t let it hurt anyone?”

“I swear on my life. I swear on his, as well,” she said, and Orion made an indignant noise. She struggled not to chuckle at the furious noise.

“ _Don’t pull me into this_!” He growled, but she ignored him.

The gun finally dropped, and she let out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Thankyou.”

He nodded, before gesturing over to where a blonde woman was arguing with Cayde. “Sure. You may have to wait for a bit for Cayde, however. Amanda seems pretty pissed at him.”

Midas nodded. “That’s fair.”

The blonde woman was maybe about the same height as Midas, wearing a black vest and red scarf, all tattoos and dirt marks and sturdy black gloves. She looked vaguely pretty, Midas noted, still did even with the glare and the annoyance. She spoke quickly, and for once Midas noted Cayde was speechless. 

“You disappear for _two days_ on what was supposed to be a quick flight, leaving me with Zavala and Ikora jumping down my throat looking for you. You get me to cover for you _against my better judgement_ , you left me worried that you’d disappeared and gotten _shot_ somewhere.” She growled.

“Well, Failsafe-” Cayde tried.

“You _finally_ appear, saying you’ve been all the way to _Nessus_ , for _two days_ , bringing _two_ stowaways, as well as one of them being a _Vex_ \- which are notorious for stealing technology, by the way - into _my hangar_ , and expect me _not_ to be absolutely furious?”

“Well, the thing is,” Cayde spluttered. She cut him off again, pointing a heavy metal tool at him. He jerked back.

“And you don’t even give anyone a warning! No ‘ _Hey, just a head’s up, there’s a kid with me with some kind of pet Vex_ ’! No ‘ _Don’t freak out and aim a gun at them, please_ ’! Just _bam!_ Here’s a Vex! Even for _you_ , this is dumb, Cayde.”

Ollie, stood next to Midas, crossed his arms as Amanda continued berating Cayde. “This’s been building up for a while, ever since he started slipping out through the Hangar,” He said, looking at Midas. Orion stood behind Midas, and she heard him click happily at the sight before them. He still wasn’t fond of Cayde, then. “Pretty much everyone’s been keeping bets on whether she’d finally explode at Cayde when he got back.” He swore suddenly, fishing his hand into his pockets. “Damn, I’m gonna owe Andy a shit ton of glimmer now.” Looking up to Midas, he jerked his thumb to the woman. “But yeah, ‘Manda’s been muttering under her breath angrily ever since Zavala came here yesterday asking where Cayde was. Something about her never fixing his arm again.”

Midas nodded, before nodding to the woman. “Yeah, by the way, who is she?”

“Oh yeah, you have no idea what’s going on, do you?” Midas shook her head as Ollie spoke. “She’s Amanda Holliday, the Last City’s shipwright. She fixes ships mostly, and runs the hangar, where we dock Guardian’s ships, but occasionally she fixes Cayde up when he loses an arm or something.”

He nodded to Cayde, “He’s the Hunter Vanguard, one of the three people in charge of the tower.”

Midas snapped her head to Ollie, and he looked at her. “Cayde is in charge of the _Tower_ ? _How_?”

He laughed. “Nah, he’s just in charge of the Hunter Guardians. Him, Zavala - the Titan Vanguard - and Ikora Rey - the Warlock Vanguard - are all collectively in charge of all the Guardians, and I guess by extension the Tower. Cayde ain’t a big fan of it though, I think he lost a bet and that’s why he’s Vanguard, so he spends most of his days in the Hangar, causing chaos or just annoying Amanda. I think she kinda enjoys it though. S’why she gets so worried when he disappears.”

“Guardians,” Midas muttered. She’d heard that word last night. “What’re the Guardians? Are they those huge guns I saw on the wall?”

Ollie stared at her incredulously. “You really _don't_ know anything, do you?” She raised an eyebrow and he shook his head. “Guardians are the protectors of the Last City. They’re people chosen by the Traveller, gifted with light that keeps them from dying. They’re often thousands of years old, and really, really powerful. Usually you see ‘em running around the Hangar looking for ships or repairs, and we’re worn thin repairing their half-broken ships and fixing up the Tower after the Red War.”

She nodded slowly, taking it in. The Red War, she knew about. It was the reason the Cabal were so frequent on Nessus. They’d made a big move, tried to start conquering the galaxy, but had been beaten back by some other army. Now she knew that the other army were the Guardians. So Guardians weren't a gun, or a machine. They were soldiers, just like she thought she could have been. Maybe Cayde was right, and she had used to be a Guardian.

Finally, Amanda had calmed down enough for Cayde to get a word in, and he spoke quickly, explaining the situation. Amanda took side glances at Midas from time to time, before nodding curtly to Ollie. He said goodbye, that he hoped she found what she was looking for, then wandered off. A human in the same overalls and black hair raced up to him and they wandered off together.

She was snapped back to the situation at hand when Cayde walked up to her. “Looks like we’ve got a free pass, Kid. C’mon, I need to take you to meet the Vanguard. Zavala’s gonna kill me.”

“The Vanguard? That’s like the military commanders, right?” She asked as they began to move, and his eyebrows rose. She shrugged, and Orion clicked behind her. “That exo guy talked. Told me about the Vanguard and the Guardians.”

He looked away as they started walking out the Hangar. She ignored the scared and confused looks she and Orion were getting. “Yeah,” Cayde spoke. “Me, Zavvy and Ikora basically run this place like a well oiled ship.” He paused. “Well, a sort of oiled ship.”

Sha laughed, and Cayde took her up some steps where they entered a partially damaged room. Wires hung from the ceiling, monitors were broken, cracked rocks and dust littered the floor, but mostly it was an impressive control room. Monitors covered nearly every surface, from the table running through the middle of the room, to the two balconies at either side. On one of these stood a woman with an imposing aura, stood straighter than anyone should, hands folded behind her back. She had dark skin, and wore purple robes, and immediately her eyes focussed on them as they walked through the door. Cayde spoke before the woman had a chance.

“Before you start aiming guns, we just had that song and dance with Amanda. This is Midas and her Vex. They’re friendly.” The woman narrowed her eyes and looked Midas up and down. Immediately she wanted to run and hide. There were so many people, unlike the forest. The room was so small, unlike the forest. The forest didn’t have this woman. Orion stood at her heel, not hissing yet, but ready to jump to Midas’s defence should she need it.

The woman turned her gaze back to Cayde. “You’ve been gone for two days, Cayde. Zavala’s been… he’s been looking for you.”

“To kill me or to thank me for shutting up?” Cayde shot back, moving into the room. Midas followed him, staying quiet.

“Is both an option?” The woman, who Midas finally realised must be one of the Vanguard; Ikora Rey, if she was correct, quipped back. Cayde laughed, comfortable on the table. “Anyways, I’m more interested about what you've brought us.” She looked at Midas. “You’re the girl who can control Vex, correct?”

Midas gulped. “How’d you know that?”

“Word travels fast.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you. Cayde already told us about you. You woke up on Nessus two years ago, correct?”

“Y...yeah, about then.” She turned to Cayde. “When did you tell them about me?”

“When we were flying here. Sundance, my ghost, sent a message.”

She frowned, before realising ‘Sundance’ must’ve been the tiny floating robot from last night. “And you didn’t tell Amanda?”

He shrugged. “I trust her not to kill me.”

Ikora sighed, before walking down to where Cayde sat and Midas stood. Orion jerked oddly and she looked at him before turning back to Ikora. “Midas, you must have a lot of questions, and we are ready to answer them, but for now we need to sort out living situations. Do you have any idea of -” 

Cayde interrupted her, putting his hand up and practically jumping out of his seat. “Got that covered. She’s bunking with me. House is big enough for two people and I spend practically no time in it anyways.” He looked at Midas, quickly realising. “If you’d be cool with that, that is.”

She nodded. Cayde was practically the only person in this entire oddity of a city that she trusted. She brushed Orion off as he began to click and whirr quickly. She’d spend less time being terrified if she bunked with him. “Well, it’s settled then. We’ll be headed off before Zav comes back and chews me up. An angry Titan is the last thing I want to see before I die.”

Ikora smiled, before nodding. “I’ll tell him you’re back. You can’t avoid him forever, though.”

Cayde side stepped away walking to the door. “I don’t plan to. I’ll be back tomorrow, after I set these two stowaways up.”

Suddenly, Orion went dead still, and Midas finally turned to him. “Dude, You’re embarrassing me in front of the lady.” She muttered. “What’s got you so riled up?”

Cayde gave her an odd look, and she shrugged. “He’s freaking out about something, I dunno.” She looked at Ikora. “You guys don’t have any Vex Hive Minds around here, I hope? That’s the only time I’ve seen him this freaked out.”

They shook their heads.

There were footsteps, heavy and strong coming from the hallway beyond the door. Cayde, the closest to the door, took a step towards it and looked out, shrugging. “There’s nothing bad out here. Sure he's not just malfunctioning? Y’know, I do that when I get too rusty. Have to get Amanda to replace plates, and that _hurts_.”

Midas shook her head.

Orions’ whirrs were quieter than she’d ever heard, the fear palpable. He took a step back, putting himself between the door and Midas. She looked to Ikora and Cayde, before muttering again. “Orion, dude, what’s wrong?”

  
“ _The God-Killer’s coming_.”


	7. A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Guardians live in the City now :)

Midas

Now

The City

It turned out, as Midas thought later, that surprisingly, The God-Killer was a person.

A tall woman had walked into the HQ, all metal and foreboding. Light rolled off her like waves, and her eyes practically glowed with it. An Awoken woman with piercing eyes and a deadly stare, she emitted power, her cloak flowing behind her, and when she looked at Midas and Orion, she pulled her gun out and aimed it between Orion’s eyes in a millisecond.

Midas had sighed, as Cayde talked to the woman, who Ikora had introduced as ‘The Guardian’, their top Guardian. Orion had later elaborated that that Guardian had practically single-handedly ended the Red War, annihilated both Gods and Kings alike, and slaughtered pretty much all of the Vex Gods and Minds by themselves. They were a force of nature, someone so powerful that many creatures believed that the Light itself had chosen her, and now spoke from inside of her.

From what Midas had sensed, she could believe that.

The Guardian had watched them from over Cayde’s shoulder, something between a mixture of hatred and confusion as Cayde spoke, hushed and quick. Her mouth had quirked a few times as he talked, but she never spoke back. Instead, her ghost - all small and white with blue iris - spoke back, hovering at The Guardian’s well-guarded shoulder.

They’d gone after The Guardian began to talk to Ikora - something about a Hive problem on the Moon - leaving the tower through a lift that exited into a street, where she gasped. If she’d thought the streets looked big earlier, now her ideas were overshadowed by the sheer size of the city. 

The tower blocks stood tall against the sky, great white and grey skyscrapers cutting a horizon against the steadily darkening sky above. The lights were slowly turning on, yellow from the houses, bright neon pinks and blues from the shop signs they passed. They walked over white cobblestone paths, under stone bridges plastered on the insides with posters for this and that, and beneath great pink and green trees that shed their leaves down on them. She picked a twig out of Orion’s plating and smiled under her mask. It was almost like Nessus.

The twig went in her pocket.

The weather in The City was different from Nessus, she noted. Puddles on the ground showed it rained water, instead of radiolarian fluid and lightning, and no cracks on the ground showed that the ground didn’t buckle and crack in its storms. The wind was warmer than Nessus, being closer to the sun, and she found herself pulling down the hood of her cloak. She didn’t remove her mask, however. She couldn’t. Not around people.

People they passed gave her and Orion either fearful or confused looks, but once they saw Cayde, they seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She asked him about it later, when they arrived at his house.

“People here aren’t allowed out of the city,” he told her, shrugging off his cloak and hanging it up. “So when they see Orion, sure they don’t know what he is, and sure, he looks all big and scary, but they probably think he’s a weird android.”

He turned to her, holding his hand out for her cloak, and she shrugged it off carefully. “Plus, they see me and know how awesome I am, so they trust you!”

She smiled under her mask. “Sure. Awesome’s the word.”

“I don’t hear any objections.”

He’d showed her around after that. The house wasn’t big, but it was big enough for two people, with two sizable rooms upstairs. It was mostly open plan, with the dining room and living room put into one, with the kitchen in a nook off to the side. There were stairs to the right wall of the room, with a balcony overhead, leading to two more rooms - the bedrooms, as she would later find out, and a bathroom at the end. Underneath was the downstairs bathroom, and the back door to a garden.

However, the plan was not what she noticed first. What she noticed first was how goddamn  _ dirty _ everything was. The floor was wood, but odd stains had discoloured it over the years. Brown by the kitchen, red by the sofas, an odd black stain by the front door that she noticed had been scrubbed off the walls. There was a smell wafting from the kitchen, and she noted the bin was full of boxes and odd stains. Outside, the grass was brown and yellow in patches, and a chicken wandered around. She asked Cayde, and he introduced her.

“This, Midas, is your new housemate, Colonel. She is also the  _ best  _ chicken you will  _ ever _ meet,  _ and _ an honorary Guardian. I take her up to the Tower sometimes. They Guardians there?  _ Love _ her. I’d say more than they love me, which is understandable.”

Colonel clucked at her, before hopping out of Cayde’s arms and pecking at Midas’s feet. She seemed to like Midas, Cayde had concluded.

Finally, were the rooms. The one Midas was to stay in was surprisingly clean, except for the dust and the sparseness. The bed was made, the curtains pulled back, and the room was filled with the Traveller’s light, but that was it. The shelves on the wall were bare, the same for a wardrobe inset into the wall, and the table by the bed. All bare and thick with dust. She didn’t see Cayde's.

Instead, she walked into her room, quiet except for the whirring of Orion behind her. He didn’t seem to mind the sparseness, being a robot, but for Midas it seemed… so different.

Back at Nessus, she’d been surrounded by trees and sky all the time. There was a constant noise, whether from Vex, from distant gunshots or explosions, or on the quiet days, from the nature around them. The great trees creaking with the wind, the leaves rustling. The choppy radiolarian fluid rivers rushing about, or the water from the trees gurgling.

This had a stark difference. A quiet. An oppressive air that she never thought she’d find in somewhere so loud.

She sat on the bed, a mist of dust shooting up only to fall at her feet.

Cayde seemed to notice the quiet, before nodding to himself. He walked quickly across the room, before opening the window. She jumped as he spoke.

“Y’know, as a Hunter, we’re supposed to be in the wilderness, exploring. It’s just what we do.” He turned to her, leaning against the windowsill. “So when I heard I was supposed to become the new Hunter Vanguard, and get basically chained to The City… well, this place is lovely and all, but it just never felt right.”

She nodded and hummed a reply. She could get that being cooped up here would be torturous.

He smiled, a gentle, calm movement, and nodded for her to look outside. “But, I also had to move into a new place instead of basically living in my ship, so I made sure to get one next to the forest.”

She choked looking out the window. Trees, thickets of green, rushing rivers, grass as tall as her. Animals.

The biggest park - near enough a thick forest - in The Last City was basically on Cayde’s back door. He leaned closer, grinning. “Y’know, something to make it feel a little more like home.”

She turned to him, smiling under her mask. “Thank you, for this, Cayde.” he nodded.

“Hey, Kid, we’re helping each other here. Finally, I have someone except Sundance to talk to in this house. Plus, with you here, maybe I’ll stick around a bit more, instead of sleeping up at the Tower when Big Blue keeps me busy.”

He stood straight, leaving Midas at the windowsill. “By the way, as much as the whole ‘ _ woodland survivor _ ’ smell is appealing, you probably wanna get cleaned up. I’ll grab you some of my clothes and you can clean yourself up in the bathroom.”

“The what?”

He whipped around as she turned to him, shocked. “Wait, wait, wait. Amnesia gives you memories of  _ Ghosts _ but not  _ showers _ ? Are you  _ okay _ ?”

She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck as Cayde stared at her, waiting for an answer. “Amnesia  _ doesn’t _ give me Ghost memories, Cayde, or whatever a shower is. I - uh - was awake that night on Nessus, and kinda pieced it together.  _ Sundance _ is your Ghost, right?”

He nodded, grumbling. “And here I thought I didn’t have to explain Ghosts to you.”

She shook her head, watching as he walked closer into the room, towards a door that she hadn’t noticed before. “I mean, you don’t have to. I get that they’re important, though-”

“ _ You’re damn right we’re important! _ ”

Startling both Cayde and Midas, though Orion just gave a small whirr, not at all interested, the small, mechanical creature she’d seen on Nessus appeared. It somehow managed to look angry without even having facial features, and Midas smiled nervously before realising the anger was directed towards Cayde. She spoke with a female voice, terse and warped with static, but also showed a cheerful attitude throughout. She was white and deep orange, with gold notes, and Midas saw she was maybe the size of a large fist.

The Ghost - Sundance - floated up to Cayde’s face, speaking quickly. “ _ You had me hide for  _ two days _ , when she knew the  _ entire _ time? Never again,  _ Cayde-6. Do you know how much you smell if you don’t shower? There’s Fallen blood and twigs in your wires!”

Midas nodded, watching. Definitely a cool ally to have.

Finally, after being thoroughly told off by Sundance, Cayde showed Midas how to run the shower and taps, as well as where the towels were. He still seemed surprised that she didn’t know what a shower was, but resigned himself to grab her clothes, before she left for the bathroom, and he went to change into something more comfortable.

She was left with only herself in the bathroom, Orion waiting outside, having a chair to sit on and disappear into himself.

She took her mask off for the first time in as long as she could remember, pulling her armour off as well. The brown wraps were crusted and cracked, thick dust coming off of them in places where the leather broke, and the chestplate was nearly rusted shut. Mud crusted in any joint she had, and the shoulder pads were full of mud and leaves. It was practically stuck to her with mud and blood - both hers and not - stained darkly in places, thick and brown with mud. She peeled herself out of it, and looked at herself in her bodysuit that she’d been in for two years. It was far from the colour it used to be, but had been with her through thick and thin. It was patched up mostly with Fallen cloaks, from places where she’d been shot or stabbed by wire rifles, and she gave it a moment of reverence before peeling that off as well, and looking at herself.

She was thin, worryingly so, but wiry, as well. Like every ounce of fat had gone into creating muscle so she could survive, but also like she’d never had enough to eat - which she also never really had, thinking about it. Her ribs were bent where they’d been broken several times, and her stomach was nearing concave. Scars were common on her skin, which was pale from never seeing the sun under her armour and cloak. Great swathes of silver where she’d been shot, lines of it where she’d been stabbed.

She reached up to her hair, pulling it out of the plaits she’d put it in long ago. It was greasy, thick and messy, and if she’d left it out it would’ve probably been matted by now. Instead, it was just barely manageable, and fell around her shoulders, too choppy from her terrible haircut. It was black, now, but she remembered years ago, where it had been yellow, before she cut that off with her knife.

She looked at her face, finally visible with the loss of the black mask. Dark eyes, with deep, bruised bags from lack of sleep. Her nose was straight, long, but her lips were a massacre, cut up and covered in scars from  _ something _ . Something, that yet again, she couldn’t remember. She’d had those since before she could remember. Before she woke up.

One of the reasons she wore the mask.

She stepped into the shower, and it was like bliss. Cayde had shown her the different things to use, and though she read ‘Men’s shampoo’ on some of them, she used them on her hair several times until it felt cleaner, and the water stopped running brown with muck. Even then, she stood for a few minutes, holding her hands to the water in a reverential position. The water, clear as it rolled down her face, dripped to her hands, before turning gold as it ran through the drain. She sighed heavily, and looked to the mirror to see her eyes.

They were gold. Iris, sclera, the entire eyeball was gold in colour. She stepped out of the shower, pulling her gloves from the pile of clothes and putting them on, watching her eyes turn back to their normal brown.

The clothes Cayde had given her were way too big - which was a given seeing as he was bigger than her - but they were a long way better than getting into her old armour. A shirt that came to her mid-thigh, and jogging pants she had to pull tight and roll up, but comfortable, nonetheless.

Finally, she stepped out of the bathroom, her hair wet and her mask off, and padded over to the still-open window, leaving a mental note to clean the bathroom in a second. It had grown dark outside, and she felt her eyelids grow heavy listening to the rustle of leaves and the quiet calls of creatures. She didn’t mean to fall asleep, seated outside on the roof of the back porch, outside her window. She’d meant to go back inside, clean the bathroom, maybe find a place for her armour. She especially hadn’t meant for Cayde to find her, hours later, after walking into her room to ask her if she wanted food, only to look out the window and see her sat underneath, asleep.

She definitely hadn’t meant for him to pick her up, to gently put her in her bed and share a look with Orion. For Cayde to tell Orion to look after her, make sure no-one came in, before leaving.

But of course, she didn’t remember this happening at all.


	8. The Vanguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some insight, and ideas. Not all Guardians are adults, after all.

The Tower

Cayde

Now

Cayde headed to the Tower late, after pulling on his armour. He’d promised Ikora he’d be back, and back he would go, after pulling on his armour. He’d scarfed down some food, and had been pulling on his boots when he heard the thump. Midas was asleep, so it could only be -

“Creepy metal sunofa-” He muttered, turning to the glowing red eye in the door of Midas’s room. It stared, unblinking, at him, and he scowled. He didn’t trust that thing. True, he could just about trust Midas seeing as A; she hadn’t had the Vex kill him already, and B; she’d agreed to move to a completely different planet all for her lost memories, but that Vex. He didn’t trust it. Especially not when it could walk around with Midas still asleep, unable to stop it.

He turned away, pulling his boot on, and he heard it slink away, back into her room. Ace felt heavy at his side, but he shoved the notion away. Midas wouldn’t trust anyone if she found her apparently trustworthy Vex bodyguard dead.

He pulled his cloak on and walked out the door, locking it behind him. As a precaution, he checked the security. Working. “Sundance, keep an eye on ‘em,” he muttered, and she appeared at his shoulder.

“ _ You want me to use that? But… after Ara... _ ” She whirred. He silently agreed, and he remembered swearing never to use this after the last time, but desperate times and all that. He didn’t trust that Vex with the kid one bit. He nodded. “ _ Okay… But only because of the Vex, alright? _ ”

“Sounds good.”

She patched herself in, and they left, heading for the lift into the Tower.

Not too long ago, the City was off limits to Guardians. They slept, worked, and lived in the Tower and  _ only _ the Tower. Something the Consensus set up centuries ago. However, after the Red War, things began to change. Guardians who had had to see the City burn to ashes, who had finally gotten to look into the eyes of the people they were supposed to be protecting, wanted in. Cayde had realised it a long time ago - it was one of the places he’d headed on his unsanctioned breaks - but after Guardians practically going on strike, Zavala had seen reason. The Consensus had had to give in or risk a full scale uprising on both sides of the wall. Finally, the Guardians could look at the faces they were supposed to be protecting. They could see who they were alive for. They could live among them, entertain the children, and build bridges.

He made his way through neon-lit streets as the rain poured down, scattered shatters of light in the puddles and cracks between the flagstones. An Exo hunter walked by, hand in hand with an Awoken, and nodded Cayde’s way, a brief acknowledgement before going back to talking. Cayde watched them go, passing by the Cafe they'd come from. He wasn’t sure if he missed that, having someone to be there. To hold hands, and more.

He shook away the notion as he arrived at the door, an unassuming metal door that was cordoned off as a ‘Danger Zone’. Walking into the checkpoint, the android beeped his card, and he headed up.

Sundance appeared, whirling around his head. “ _ Everything's good at the house _ .”

“The Vex?”

“ _ Sat back down by Midas, just… watching her _ .”

Chills ran down his spine and he shuddered. “Creepy bastard.”

Sundance sighed, a long, mechanical noise much like his own voice. A pause, then, she spoke.

“ _ Why did you want me to activate the security, Cayde? Since Ara… left… we haven’t - I mean you literally defied Zavala _ -”

Cayde shook his head as Sundance stumbled over her words. “Look, it’s not that I don’t have some semblance of trust in Midas - plus, she won’t find out anyways - it’s just the Vex. It… I can feel it watching me, like Midas can’t control it. Like it’s only doing what she says out of its own free will. “

“ _ But surely that makes it more trustworthy? _ ”

“Nah. Not that kinda free will,” The lift rattled as they neared the top. “The kind where it’s  _ waiting _ .”

“ _ Oh. _ ” The door opened, and Sundance faded away, as Cayde headed out the door, heading left. Down the stairs, past the old, half destroyed pillars, and into the faded remnants of the HQ.

_ Everything _ had been destroyed, in the attack. The ceiling caved in, the walls were obliterated, even Eris Morn’s little stand had been destroyed. Shaxx’s centre, his old collected bones, were crushed under tonnes of rubble. Cayde remembered the sight, the feeling of having to drag his way out of rubble and bodies. The feeling of sheer panic, before dragging Zavala and Ikora out, too. That tiny voice, that hot, dangerous part of him that had sworn slow, painful vengeance against Ghaul in that moment. After they took back the city, after he gave up that part in favour of the Guardian taking their revenge, he remembered the empty feeling of that room.

But now, as he walked down the steps, he quirked a grin to see it bustling. Busy. People who were alive and working and damn it, so was he.

He readied himself, took a step and walked in with a grin on his face.

The Guardian turned first, hiding horrified and guilty eyes by raising a scarred eyebrow at him before turning back to Ikora. He wandered over to them, hearing the tail end of the conversation.

“-Ikora, I should have been there. Should have burned the whole place to ashes. I should have-”

“Don’t trouble yourself over it. What’s done is done. Now, we must seek to find any more captured.”

He stepped up. “What’s the chatter about? Chosen One find something interesting?”

Ikora turned to him, and he stiffened. Something in her eyes was vastly different than any look he’d seen before. Something so guilty, so horrified. Like she’d just let a man die.

He  _ knew _ that look. He just never expected it from Ikora.

“What  _ happened _ ?” He said, deeper.

“The Guardian found… she found a prison cell, on Nessus, about a year ago,” Ikora began. She was breathless. Cayde was aware of Zavala listening from the window, stiff, quiet as death. He caught eyes with a human staff member as she did her work. Her cheeks were shiny, and she was blinking hard. “On the first couple levels, she and Ghost only found radiolaria and ether signatures.” She turned to the monitor, and pulled up a screen. A deep cavern, running miles and miles, with smaller tunnels branching off. Light purple dots of Ether scattered around the top, and about halfway down the chasm, mixed with red dots of radiolaria signatures. Made sense.

“We sent the Guardian back there after you brought Midas in, with specific instructions to search for Light traces.” She pressed a button, and his throat caught. The entire lower half, and all of the tunnels were filled with a bright, white light. “We _found_ them,” Ikora said, her voice empty.

“Fuck.”

Ghost, previously quiet, piped up, his voice a whisper. “ _ It was like standing next to the Traveller _ ,” Cayde, if he were human, would've been able to taste bile. “ _ They were all there.  _ All _ of them _ .”

Cayde sat, heavily, on the table. For once, he actually felt like his body was metal. So heavy that his shoulders sagged and his legs felt like molten lead. The rest of the room was a quiet bustle, people working away. Zavala, to his credit, hadn’t moved, but Cayde had known him long enough to know that cold, dark, air he gave off. Zavala was upset,  _ so _ guilty, and Cayde could feel it. They all could. The _ biggest _ failure in Guardian history, next to The Collapse, and Zavala had taken all that weight on his shoulders. Cayde’s mind whirled, and he sighed, deep from his chest.

“ _Fuck_.” He repeated.

There was a moment of silence, before Ikora inhaled, bringing them all back to attention. She stood just a little straighter, a little taller, and her hands folded themselves behind her, the picture of rectitude, and Cayde knew their emotional moment was over. He pushed himself from the bench, and The Guardian breathed deeply, stiffening up, shaking her head.

“Cayde. You said in your message back that you had some idea of who Midas is.”

He nodded, wiggling his fingers. “Guessing, really, but the evidence is there. Sundance?”

She bobbed up and down, before dumping a chestplate on the table. It makes a clatter, before they could see it. Hundreds of Guardians wore  _ Swordflight 4.1 _ armour, though most were underpowered Crucible-grinders, but they knew of only a few who wore it in such an abhorrently obnoxious shade of gold and teal. Only one who’d disappeared.

“ _ Cayde _ . You can’t possibly think that-” Ikora hissed, eyes wide. She’d known  _ his _ guardian just like them all. All except one.

“ _ Who? _ ” The Guardian’s Ghost chirped, and Cayde tilted his head to the little light.

“Ara. The Guardian I raised. Same Guardian who ran fire team Horizon, who’s ghosts I just so happened to find right where she showed up!” Cayde leant towards Ikora, enunciating his words. 

Sundance transmatted those, too, if a little more gently.  _ Seaghost _ and Jira Valuknov’s unnamed ghost dropped to the table. Ikora sighed, eyes deep, sad. She was looking her age more and more as the conversation went on.

“Traveller save us,” she muttered, before turning to them. “ _ Alright _ . Cayde, I’m giving you a week to get this kid prepared, and then I’m sending you, Midas, and The Guardian to the Pit.”

“ _ What? _ ” 

“We need information about what the hell is going on here. Get Midas to assimilate a Vex down there, see what you can get. Protect her, get the information, and get out. And if you can find any other Guardians, then get them the hell out of there as well.”

Cayde sputtered. “As thrilled that I am that you’re willingly letting me out of the City, why bring Midas? She may have used to be a Guardian, but she’s still Ghostless.”

The Guardian nods, Ghost mirroring Cayde’s point. “We’re immortal, but the kid isn’t. What if the worst happens?”

Ikora frowns, a deep curve. “I have faith in you, Guardian. And Cayde, I’ve seen you in the Crucible. The vex shouldn’t be able to touch you. And If you’re seriously worried about Midas, we’ll be on comms the entire time.”

He huffed, crossed his arms, but relented. He knew that, to get this mystery done with, they needed to have a little danger. Sure, he was no stranger to it when it was guardians, but if Midas used to be who he thought…

Well, that changed everything.

He left, grabbing his paperwork and saying his adues to The Guardian - off on another mission to the EDZ - and started thinking of how the hell he was going to prepare Midas for this.

Outside, the skies were just as slate grey and thunderous as the night of the Red War. He prayed to the Traveller that it didn’t mean anything.


	9. The Golden Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (No idea why this is called The Golden Age - it showed up on my Google docs and I've stuck with the title ever since. Also, some dialogue between Midas and Orion cause I've been neglecting using him, and explaining why TG is so testy)

Midas

One week later

The Guardian’s Ship

A week later, Midas and Orion were heading into The Guardian’s ship, a slim and jagged thing, somehow ominous, besides from the bright green colour.

Cayde had told her a week ago, the morning after she arrived, what they were doing. A pit prison, somewhere where she could have come from all those years ago, filled to the brim with Light. Midas was to go there so she could assimilate a Vex, and hopefully brig answers. Cayde and the Guardian were looking for survivors.

So to Nessus they went, a week later. Midas could feel something was off immediately. It was in the way The Guardian glared at her, the way Cayde edged around her, like they were both hiding something. She refused to let it get to her, though, and instead sat, watched the stars go by, and thought.

The week before, Cayde had gotten her a few things; “Mostly to get rid of the ‘ _ Woodland Survivor _ ’ smell”, as he’d said. Clothes, that sort of thing. Knowing they were heading into an actively dangerous zone, he’d taken her into the garden.

“Right,” He’d said, shrugging off his usual chestplate and cloak. The Colonel sat behind him, clucking softly and pecking at the straw ground, while Sundance whirled gently around, following the chicken. Cayde dropped his armour, and walked so he was opposite Midas. “You know we’re heading to an active zone, yeah?”

She nodded, crossing her arms. She was wearing a simple shirt and joggers, with trainers that were pretty much multi purpose. She hadn’t asked for much, after she’d worked out what the hell Glimmer was and how much things cost and how difficult it was to get, so she pretty much just got two outfits and some gear for a fight. Armour, a long coat, boots, such.

There was a time for thoughts of the past, however, and then was not the time. Cayde decided he wanted to see how she could fight, how she could hold her own. She ended up on her back the first two times, but the third…

She’d caught the arm that rocketed towards her, hissing as his leg slammed into her grounded one -  _ ow _ \- as she knelt down behind him, and as he rolled over her back, slamming into the ground, she knelt on his chest, fist pulled back. She held that for a few seconds, before sitting back, and grinning.

“You don’t punch,” Cayde noticed, and she nodded, barely out of breath, but eyes wide.

“ _ One _ , you are made of metal, so I’m definitely not punching you,” She grinned, hopping on one foot to check her shin where their legs collided, “And… yeah, I don’t punch. I either shoot or… y’know, dodge around stuff. Easier to not die by running in headfirst.” She winced, putting her foot down. Scratched, and there’d be a bruise, but she was okay. Probably  _ shouldn’t _ tell him she could turn things to gold with a touch. She fingered the fastening of her gloves, and he nodded, hopping up.

“C’mon. Punching or not, we’re going again.”

She groaned, but pulled her arms up.

Now, she sat in The Guardian’s ship, elbows on her knees, watching Orion. He’d gone again, the light of his eye dim, barely there. He was as still as a rock, even with any turbulence from the ship, hands on his knees, back straight, tail wrapped around his leg. She watched him for a few more minutes, before speaking slowly.

“Orion,” She mumbled. His light returned, but he did not move. “Do you know anything about where we’re going?”

His head moved a fraction to the right, and his tail flicked, tapping on the metal bench. “ _ Nothing. Melpomene found the entrance a while ago, but she was killed just after relaying the information. I would have told you but it just seemed like another cave of enemy Vex. _ ”

She nodded as he tapped away. Melpomene had been a harpy - one of the few she had - that had died a couple months ago. The other Harpies had woken her up with a screech, one that lasted all night. She remembered the night.

Stars whizzed past outside. “How do you feel about going back to Nessus? I mean, we left a week ago.”

He curled forwards, his tail tapping. “ _ I am not required to feel anything for that place, you should- _ ”

She cut off the taps with a short laugh. “Cut the shit, they’re not listening.” She nodded to the door towards the cockpit. “How do you  _ feel _ ?”

Orion sat back, eye glowing. “ _ I feel… happy. But also anxious. _ ”

She stood up, wobbling as the ship turned. Once she was steady, she wandered through the hangar area, calling to Orion. “Why’s that?”

“ _ In the City, I felt unsafe. I only went for you, for your memories. Vex are not even supposed to be on  _ Earth _ , but that place… A deathtrap for anything related to The Darkness. _ ” She nodded, slowly, noting how The Guardian’s ship was more lived in. A bed, nailed down in the corner, behind some sheets. A box of muddied camping supplies, boxes of guns and bows and all sorts of toys. Different cloaks hung from the far wall, a clear notion of the fact that The Guardian had a fashionable streak. Midas approved.

Orion continued. “ _ In Nessus, we are safe. We can disappear _ .”

“Could,” She shot back. He made a noise, low and rumbly. It was true, now they’d revealed themselves and people knew about them, it would be pretty hard to disappear.

“ _ That _ ,” he rumbled, “ _ Is down to your decision to get close to the Exo. He’s clearly dangerous - and _ ,” His tapping grew quicker and more frustrated, “ _ Why do you even trust him! You’ve been playing house all week with  _ The Godslayer’s _ leader! I just… _ ” He paused, thinking a million things at a million times faster than she could. “ _ I don’t see how you can trust him _ .”

Midas shook her head, gloved fingers ghosting over the walls of The Guardian’s ship, listening to Orion’s tapping, over the rumble of the engine, and faint sounds of Cayde and The Guardian’s ghost talking.

“I  _ don’t _ ,” She mused, turning to see Orion’s head tilt. “Well, not completely, same as he doesn’t fully trust me, I reckon. Only reason why is that we haven’t killed each other yet.”

Orion clicked. “ _ You don’t think it’s more than that? _ ”

Midas looked away, to the stars. She fiddled with her hair, that she’d put into a plaited bun on top, left the rest long. Flowing. “I don’t  _ know _ . He knows something about who I used to be - I’m pretty sure they all do, the way they treat me - but I don’t know if it’s that he actually gives a shit, or if he’s using me, but…” She turned back to Orion. “He only knows about the Vex bit. Not…”

“ _ The gold? _ ”

“Yeah.”

A moment of silence. She looked outside. The conversation died on her tongue, too heavy with thoughts. Did she trust Cayde? He’d been so kind, so considerate. But there was still something he wasn’t telling her. Why he’d been so quick to allow her into his ship. Into his city.

A planet whipped by, and the ship rocked from its gravity. Maybe she could trust him. But not her, not The Guardian.

“What about The Guardian?” She asked the empty air. Orion answered after a long pause.

“ _ The Godslayer is a vicious wolf on a leash _ ,” He tapped. He was tense, arms and back straight. Wires pulsed with each tap. “ _ She will obey orders, and kill anything in her path to victory. _ ” His tail flicked. “ _ Including you. Most definitely me _ .”

She nodded, turning when she heard a rustle behind her. The Guardian walked out first, helmet down. She scowled, locking eyes with Midas, before nodding to the bench opposite Orion. “ _ Sit _ ,” She growled, “And  _ don’t _ touch anything.”

Midas put her hands up defensively, and sat.

The Guardian disappeared behind the curtains by her bed, and a soft thump indicated she’d collapsed on the bed. Another rustle, and Cayde came out, Sundance following him.

“She growl at you?” He asked, pointing back to the curtains with his thumb. Midas grinned under her mask, and nodded. He chuckled, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. “We’ll be at Nessus soon. You ready?”

She nodded, tapping the hilt of her knife at her belt. Cayde had given it to her yesterday, a long, wicked thing he said he found in the EDZ - a broken expanse of what used to be Europe. He made a motion - “Good, don’t wanna get on a ship not ready” - and slid to the ground, legs splayed out before him.

“Y’know... she’s not gonna hurt you,” He spoke, nodding to the curtains, voice deep and tone serious, “She’s always been highly strung, mostly ‘cause she _ has _ to be. Ever since she first showed up, we knew. The light practically  _ belonged _ to her. Even her ghost glowed just a little brighter than all the rest.”

Sundance appeared, whirling around his head slowly, before floating into his hood, and Midas could see what he meant. The ghost glowed with Light - something she only realised now was there. A glow - soft and sharp and bright all at the same time - coated Cayde and Sundance, peeking through their cracks and glowing in their eyes.

The Guardian, however, hadn’t been lit by a dusky glow, she had been like the sun. The light had pooled in her footsteps - barely visible, but there - and crackled at the edge of her cloak. Her edges shone with power, and her eyes -  _ god, her eyes, so murderous and vulnerable and powerful _ \- had been nothing less than The Travellers incarnation.

She understood what it meant to fear the light, suddenly. Fear and  _ worship _ it.

“The Guardian was always the most powerful one of us, from day one. She slaughtered Hive Gods like they were nothing. Xol, Crota, Oryx, Hashladun… She slaughtered everything we threw her at like it was a minor squabble. She became a war hero and the Chosen One all at once, and she never complained.” He looked at Midas’s horrified face. Even the Vex knew of the Taken royal family, and for The Guardian - the same guardian who held so much Light in her eyes - to have been the one that slaughtered them all - Traveller save her if The Guardian decided she was an enemy. “So, you get why she’s...testy.”

“She’s under a hell of a lot of pressure. Why make her go through with it?”

“We didn’t make her. She could have walked away, left. She could have done anything, but she  _ chose _ to.”

Suddenly, the curtain moved, The Guardian’s ghost whirring out. “ _ The Guardian’s finally asleep, you may want to do the same. We’ll be at Nessus in approximately 8 earth hours. I’ll keep a watch, _ ” - She  _ caught _ that glance. He was watching  _ Orion _ \- “ _ And keep the ship going. I’ll wake you all when we arrive. _ ”

Cayde nodded once, sliding further down and bundling his cloak over himself so he was laying down. Sundance chirped her disdain at being moved, but whirred around him once, before nestling in the crook of his arm, and shutting her eye. Midas watched, before doing the same on the bench, tapping - so quietly - for Orion to sleep as well. His eye glow blinked, once, twice, then shut out. Slowly, slowly, she too fell asleep.


End file.
